Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital

08/26/2026

Happy International Dog Day from SAM!

08/18/2026

As we continue to welcome new clients and their pets as owners discover THEIR vet hospital has been sold to corporate (or was secretly sold some time ago!), we wanted to share a great synopsis of what vet med is going through right now (note: BFVH is not political in any way; this issue transcends all politics).

What can you do right now? Continue to support small businesses, especially privately owned veterinary hospitals. Just a simple phone call to your vet, asking the simple question, "Are you privately owned?" can tell you a lot. If they are, that answer will always be a clear and concise yes! If there's lots of explanation or an "I'm not sure" we encourage all pet owners to dig deeper!

Why are veterinary bills rising so fast across America? Senator Eli...

08/11/2026

This is your sign to adopt a cat today! ❤️ 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 ❤️

08/10/2026

🎶I don’t know about you, but I’m feelin 22!🎶 Help us wish ✨BROOKE ✨a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

08/09/2026

We are on the way to a record setting wildlife year. Last week we reached 451 wildlife intakes, the same number we had all of 2025, and we’ve got 5 months to go!!

We often get asked “what will happen to it” when people release wild animals to us. While the sad reality of caring for wildlife is that a large percentage have to be euthanized, most often due to extreme trauma, we also have cases where we go well above and beyond. What we want finders to know is that we are ALWAYS making the best decision for the animal with plans for eventual release.

Two recent examples of “above and beyond” involve one unusual, and one not so “wild” animal.

This Black Swedish duck (NOT wild but we don’t discriminate) was brought to us after fishing line had essentially amputated her foot. The foot was swollen, incredibly painful and every nerve and muscle were tightly trapped. We surgically finished the job the fishing line had started and she recovered beautifully. She has now joined “One Foot Lake”, owned by wonderful friends of BFVH!! He shares the lake with our previous patients, a one footed swan (injured by another swan during breeding) and another one footed Black Swedish duck (also a victim of fishing line). We’re so thankful our friends are always willing to accept another disadvantaged waterfowl. Here they have a sandy beach for easy access to water and a twice a day broadcast feeder for easy and consistent access to food.

The next little patient is one we don’t see often. This Bronze Frog came in with a large laceration where the skin was peeled away on most of its back. We sedated it with an anesthesia cocktail applied to its skin and sutured the laceration with the smallest sutures ever. He was given pain medication and oxygenated well post surgery and he recovered remarkably well. He has been transferred to the Chattahoochee Nature Center for continued care and while his prognosis is still guarded, we did all we could to get this beneficial amphibian back into the wild.

The point of this post is to show you that even though we’ve received a record volume of wildlife patients, we will always try to do every thing we can within reason to ensure a wild animal is triaged appropriately and able to be released back to the environment whenever possible.

**thank you to everyone who has donated to our wildlife program. YOU are incredibly appreciated. We receive no funding or assistance so every dollar is very appreciated!!

08/08/2026

🐈‍⬛Happy International Cat Day!! 🐈‍⬛Here is a shout out to our one and only KEVIN!!!

08/04/2026

✏️🚌Happy Back To School Week!!

We hope all our little 2 legged brothers and sisters had a great first day!! ✂️📚

To celebrate, for the whole
Month of August we’re offering $20 off of your pet’s important tests (lab tests that is! 🧪). So, if your dog or cat comes in for their yearly exam, take $20 off their wellness bloodwork, on us!

‼️Reminder: For the time being, we are still offering a FREE heartworm test when your pet receives ProHeart12 (12 months of uninterrupted heartworm prevention in 1 injection 🦟). It’s a great time to schedule your pet’s wellness exam and vaccines!

07/30/2026

Wildlife of the Week!⭐

We here at Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital take pride in our wildlife triage program. We’ve heard your requests for a sneak-peek into how this process works so we want to introduce our new program called Wildlife of the Week! Every week or so, we will introduce one of our wildlife cases to provide insight into the work we do here at Bells Ferry. Through these spotlights, we aim to educate the public about the wildlife rehabilitation process, explain how triage and treatment decisions are made, and foster a greater understanding of the care each animal receives on its path to recovery.

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This week, we are highlighting an Eastern Box Turtle that was admitted to the facility on July 8th. The turtle was brought to us after being found near a local neighborhood pond, where the finder noticed two large swellings on either side of its neck and was concerned about its condition.

Upon examination, our team found the turtle to be alert but mildly lethargic and slightly underweight. The swellings were diagnosed as bilateral aural abscesses - localized infections within the ear cavities that are relatively common in turtles. These large lumps prevent the turtle from retracting fully into their shell for protection and limit overall mobility, affecting the turtle’s ability to consume food (causing the weight loss seen). After administering a local anesthetic (lidocaine) and pain medication, both abscesses were carefully extracted and flushed to remove the debris fully.

Following the procedure, the turtle received continual pain medication and antibiotics, remaining under observation for around two weeks to monitor healing and recovery. Over time, the turtle steadily gained weight and inflammation around the wounds decreased significantly. Once it was fully recovered, the turtle was returned and released near its original location.

This turtle was found in a neighborhood where lawn chemicals are used often, which most likely contributed to the aural abscesses it developed. This is a fairly common problem for box turtles, especially in urban and suburban areas, where pesticides, herbicides, and other lawn treatments are widely used. There are several things you can do to help. Consider switching to more natural lawn care methods, such as organic fertilizers, hand-pulling weeds, or pesticide-free pest control.

We hope you enjoyed this weeks wildlife spotlight and stay tuned for a look at the variety of interesting and educational cases we get in each week!

07/28/2026

Help us wish our “summer intern” Averie, a very special✨ 15th✨ Birthday!!!

07/10/2026

Have you ever had to give your cat or dog a bath and thought, wow, this is hard! Well, trying giving an owl a bath!!

This very young Great Horned Owl was discovered trapped inside a large barrel that had contained a petroleum-based product. Thankfully, a Good Samaritan tipped the barrel over so it could escape, but a day later when it didn’t fly away, they knew it needed help.

Enter… Dawn dish soap. 💙

That’s right—Dawn isn’t just for ducks! It can also be a lifesaver for raptors whose feathers have become contaminated with oil. Healthy feathers are incredibly important. Every feather has to lock together like tiny pieces of Velcro to provide waterproofing, insulation, silent flight, and lift. Oil destroys that structure, leaving birds unable to fly, stay warm, or even protect themselves from the weather.

After FIVE baths (yes… five!) this spicy lady was finally starting to look—and smell—like an owl again. 😅 The last photo shows the payoff!

And speaking of spicy…

Great Horned Owls are often called the “Tigers of the Sky,” and we couldn’t agree more. These magnificent predators are among the most powerful, fearless, and challenging raptors we treat. They hunt everything from rabbits and skunks to snakes, hawks, and even other owls! Females are larger than males and, in our experience… they are often the ones making all the rules. 😬 They earn every ounce of respect we give them!

One of the coolest things you’ll notice in these photos is just how enormous its eyes appear when it’s wet. That’s because Great Horned Owl eyes are not actually eyeballs like ours—they’re elongated, tube-shaped eyes that take up a tremendous amount of space inside the skull. In fact, their eyes are so large they can’t move them at all! Instead, they compensate by rotating their heads up to 270 degrees, giving them that famous owl stare.

A huge thank you to Georgia Wildlife Network for transporting this beautiful owl to us, and to Chattahoochee Nature Center, where it has now been transferred for continued rehabilitation. With a little more time, patience, and expert care, we’re hopeful it’ll soon return to where she belongs… ruling the night skies once again. 🦉💛

(And yes… those giant yellow eyes were judging us through every single bath 😂)